SEOUL, April 13 (Xinhua)-- South→✘ Korea posted trade surplus in the &×↕industrial parts and components sector α¶↑for 20 straight quarters th↔δ≥ anks to the lowest depe∏φndence on Japanese products, a g∞φovernment report showed oα£★®n Wednesday.

Trade surplus in the sector♠☆λ recorded 23.1 billion U.S. d♣★"•ollars in the first qλ←♠uarter, keeping the surplus t' ≤γrend for 20 quarters in a row, acco×σrding to the Ministry o♠​f Trade, Industry and Ene"$<¶rgy.

Exports in industrial parts and compδ₽§↔onents amounted to 59.4 billion dol​""lars during the January-March per ↑φ✔iod, down 10.9 percent from a year eφ↕≠arlier. Imports shrank 10.7 percent to ∏&36.3 billion dollars.

The parts exports accounted for mor& εe than half of the country's↔♥ total exports in the firs£"<πt quarter, bolstering u™≈§>p the export-driven economy.

The ministry said that both exports and≠₩ imports in the sector dec¥εlined amid global economic sl§<♦'owdown, but it noted tha‍ ∏∞t the surplus trend continued due>×∑ to the least dependence on Japanese‍ •' products.

Dependence on products imported ₽σfrom Japan accounted for 17 percen®•$t of the total in the fi♦ <<rst quarter, marking the lower rat✘φ‍∞io than any first-quarter fig±¶>σures.

The dependence on Japan∑‍ continued to decline from 23.8 per₽✔cent in the first quarter of 2011¶★® to 23.3 percent a year late÷↔r. It slid further t≥λo 21.5 percent in the f$€irst quarter of 2013 and 17.2 perce™§nt two years later.